Brine and erosion control for railroads



May 27, 1930. R, E, WING 1,760,099 9' BRINE AND EROSION CONTROL FOR RAILROADS Filed Feb. 4, 1929 3 SheetS-Sheet l x ZE ATTORNEYS May 27, 1930. R. E, wlNG 1,760,099

BRINE AND ERosIoN CONTROL FOR RAILROADS Filed Feb. 4, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS May 27, 1930. y R. E. wlNG 1,760,099

4 BRINE AND EROSION CONTROL FOR RAILROADS Filed Feb. 4, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 vif INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented May 27, 1930 UNITED A'rss wenn ROY E. WING, 0F HIGHLAND EARK, MICHIGAN BRIN'E AND EROSION CONTROL FOR RAILROIDS Application led February 4, 1929. Serial No. 337,499.

which will require little or no attention inv operation, which will be simple in construction, and which may be economically installed on present equipment or builtinto the car during the construction of the same.

Other objects and advantages of thisin venti'on will become apparent as the follow-L ing description proceeds, particularly when reference is had to the accompanying drawings wherein Y Figure l is a fragmentary semidiagrammatic sectional viewthrough a refrigerator car showing the invention applied to the same;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through a portion of the car shown in Figure l;

Figure il is an elevational view of a part of the mechanism shown'in Figure l; i

Figure 4 is a Vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View through one of the valves used in the construction, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view through a slightly modified form of construction.

Heretofore in the use of refrigerator cars it has been customary to permit the brine from the car to be discharged continuously Vduring the travel of the car. It is well known that the brine or salt solution quickly corrodes metals and it has been found that the continuous salt spray to which the right-ofway and rolling stock of railroads, on which refrigerator cars are moved has been subjected is highly detrimental to the rails and equipment and is one direct cause for large expenditures for replacements. Further, the

resulting deterioration of the right-of-way and rolling stock has undoubtedly been the cause of numerous accidents, since the gradual weakening of the metal structures has not always been apparent on the surface.

vIn order to eliminate this diiiiculty, attempts have been made to substitute electrical or mechanical refrigeration units for the ice compartments used as standard equipment on most refrigerator cars, but has been found that such a substitution has involved so much expense as to be substantially impractical. .The present invention therefore contemplates the elimination of the above mentioned difficulty by means whereby the brine discharge may be automatically controlled and deposited at certain, denite points, thus eliminating entirely the spraying of the brine on the right-of-way and the back wash of the brine yon the frame structure of the cars when the train is in motion.

A typical run of refrigerator cars on one major road, consists of approximately 330 miles of track, with nine definite time card stops, between terminals. During the time of year when the maximum amount of ice melt occurs, 4,000 pounds of ice is required per car for this run. This quantity of ice reduced to liquid is equivalent to approxt mately 500 gallons per car, making the ratio so of melt per mile of run approximately 11/2 gallons. On the typicalrun in question the longest mileage between stops is miles, providing no emergency stops are made, there would be therefore, 90 times 11/2 gallons or 130 85 gallons of solution per car to control.

Using the above ligures as a practical basis, the present invention contemplates 'the provision of means for conducting the drip from the ice and salt compartments of the refrig- 9o erator car through suitable drain pipes to a storage tank secured tothe under frame of the car chassis. Thus the brine will be prevented from spraying on the right-of-wa-y of the railroad and the back wash of the spray on to the frame work of the car would be entirely eliminated. By providing means for discharging the brine from the storage tank at certain definite points, the condition of the tracks at these points could be carefully loo guarded, and the danger of weak track structure entirely eliminated. Vhile the invention will find utility on any railroad, it will find particular utility on a road where metallic ties are usec, since these ties are generally quite serior-.slyy adected by the action of the brine solution. t

Referring then particularly to the drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea is disclosed, there is semi-dia'- grammatically illustrated in- Figure 1 a refrigerator car 10 having the axles 11 and the wheels 12. The car may be `of any desired construction and as illustrated may be provided with .the ice compartments 13 and 144 located its opposite ends.

In use it is customary to pack the ice 'cc-nipartments 13Vand 14 with ice and salt and to permit the brine drip` from these compartments to bedischarged,continuously through the bottom of the compartments during travel of the car. As 'brought out before, this causes. a spraying of the right-of-way with the brine solution and also causes a spraying of the yunder frame ofthe car by back wash while the car is in motion. The present invent-ion` eliminates this spraying effect by collecting the brine discharged from the ice compartments and by storing the same in a suitable storage tank to be discharged at predetermined points in the travel of the car.

A Referring then lparticularly to Figure 2 of the drawing, it will be noted that there isv provided in the bottom ofthe ice compartment 134 a sump 15 in which the brine solu-v tion collects. A similar sui-np is formed in the ice compartment 14 and these sumps are connected by drain lines 16 and 17 respectively to a storage tank 18 secured to the framework of the car chassis. As illustrated, this storage tank may be conveniently located at substantially the center of the car, thus being spaced at equal distances from the ice compartments. n

l For controlling` the discharge of the brine froml the storage tank there may be provided a discharge'fittingv 19 controlled by a but-terfly valve 20 fixed to an actuating shaft 21. A. collar 22 fixed to the shaft 21 is provided wi yh an .operatingA arm 23 whereby movement of the'said arm 23 will effect a rotation of the shaft 21 to actuate the valve. p

F or automatically controlling the actuation of .thev valve 2O there is provided a mechanism designated` generally by the reference character 25. Thismechanism includes a fly wheel 26 fixed to a shaft 27 mounted in suit-` able bearings 28 secured to the under fra-mo struct-ure of the car. The shaft 27 is driven from one of the car axles 11 by any suitable mechanismv such for example as a' chain 29 en'ga-geable with gears 30 and 31 mounted on the axle 11 and shaft 27 respectively.

Pivotallymounted between ears ,f 32 pro-v jecting laterally from one face of the fly wheel 26 at diametrically opposite points are bell crank levers 33. AThese bell crank levers are formed at one end with the weights 34,

yand these Weights are normally urged inwardly toward the shaft 27 by the springs 35. The other end of each bell crank lever is formed with a pin 36 adapted to engage in a groove 37 formed in a sleeve 38 slidably mounted on the shaft 27. ft will be obvious t iat upon rotation of the fly wheel 26 centrifugal force will cause the weights 34 to swing outwardly, thus vmovingr the sleeve longitudinally of the shaft 27.

Pivoted as at 40'to'the under frame of the car structure is a lever 41 provided at its one end with a yoke 42 adapted-for engagement in a' second groove 43 formed in the sleeve 38. The lever 41 is bent as vat 44 to extend downwardly below the tank 18 and is then bent forwardly as at 45 to form the eX- tension 46 engageable with the valve actuating arm 23 as at 47. The arrangement is such that when the weights 34 are in their outermost position under the action of centrifugal force, the lever 41 will be moved about its pivot to close the yvalvef20. When on the other hand rotation of the ily wheel 26 Vis stopped the weights 34 will be drawn inwardly toward the shaft 27 to shift .the collar 28^and lever 41 to effect an opening of the valve20. y y

e From the above it is believed that the structure and operation of this Yform ofthe invention will be readily understood. AllV of the brine dripping from the ice compartments will be collected in the storage. tank V18. lVhen the car is at rest the'valve is'he'l'd open so that during the .loading :of the-ice compartments there will be no accumulation of drip in the tank. As soon as the-car is set in motionithe fly wheel 26 is driven from the axlell whereupon the weights 34 move outwardly to shift the sleeve'38 and lever 41 to' close the valve 20. The operating mechanism is so designed that it will operate properly, regardless of the direction in which the car is moved and is of such a construction thatit may be quickly andy easily installed on any refrigerator car, regardless of the construction of the same.

The power required to operate the control mechanism will be extremely slight and the weightsmay be so arranged as to operate at any speed at which the car may travel. When the weights 34 fly outwardly to their maximum outward position, they remain at rest in this position during travel ofthe car, so that there are practically no moving parts .to the control mechanism during the major portion of its use. Obviously, whenever the car is stopped which as brought out before is usually nine times during a run of33() miles, thev valve 2O will Vbe'automatically opened tol per'- mit the discharge ofthebrine from the storage tank. Vxhen, however, the car is setlin drain line 52 above described.

motion the drain valve is automatically closed so that all drip is accumulated in the storage tank, thus entirely eliminating the spraying of the right-of-way of the railroad and the spraying of tl e frame structure of the car by back wash of the brine.

lVhile the control has been described as being actuated by a centrifugally driven member, it will be readily apparent that the control might be automatically actuated in a number of other ways. For example, the lever al might conveniently be operatively connected in any suitable manner to the reciprocating plunger rods of the usual or standard air brake system of the car, the arrangement being such that upon actuation of the air braking system the valve 20 will be operated. Further it will be obvious that the valve 2O might be manually controlled and be opened by an attendant whenever the car makes a stop.

By reference to Figure 2 of the drawing it will be noted that the drain line 16 is provided adjacent the sump 15 with a manually controlled valve 51. lt will also be noted that there is provided a second drain line 52 which discharges directly from the sump 15 and that this drain line is controlled by a manually operated valve 53. This construction is provided, since it has been found that in order to maintain the correct temperature to suit the commodity carried, it is the practice at certain times to use plain ice in the ice compartments. As the drip from the ice is not corrosive7 it may be discharged directly from the ice compartment by closing valve 5l and opening valve 53. This method would find particular utility during freezing weather.

Instead of providing a separate storage tank 18 mounted as illustrated adjacent the center of the car the lower section of each ice compartment may be constructed to act as a storage receptacle and discharge valves operated either manually or automatically may be provided to drain these storage units. Such a construction is shown in Figure 6, wherein 123 designates one of the ice compartments. This compartment is provided, as illustrated, with the lower compartment 60 into which the brine drains through the sump 6l. The compartment 60 maybe provided with the discharge fitting 62 manually controlled by the valve 63, this fitting being similar'to the The compartment (SO may also be provided with the manuallv and automatically controlled discharge fitting (il having the manually controlled valve G5 and the automatically controlled valve 6G. lt will be obvious that the lever 67 provided for actuating the valve 66 may be connected either to a centrifugal mechanism such as above described or to the air brake system such as also above described. Thus the brine may be collected in the compartnient 60 and either discharged directly from this compartment during the travel of the car or else discharged periodically from this compartment through the fitting 64.

llhile the invention has been described with considerable detail, it is to be clearly understood that vthe description is for the purposes of illustration only. Theright is therefore reserved to make such changes in the details of construction and arrangementof parts as will fall within the purview of the attached claims.

Vlhat I claim as my invention is:

l. The combination with a refrigerator car having an ice compartment, of a storage tank 3. The combination with a refrigerator car having an ice compartment, of a tank for receiving the brine discharged from the said ice compartment, a valve for controlling the discharge of brine from the tank, and means controlled by movement of the said car for closing the valve when the car is in motion and for opening the valve when the car is stopped.

t. The combination with a refrigerator car having an ice compartment, of a tank for receiving the brine discharged from the said ice compartment, a valve for controlling the discharge of brine from the tank, and means controlled by movement of the said car for closing the valve when the car is in motion f rand for opening the valve when the car is stopped, said means including a centrifugally operated mechanism and a connection between said mechanism and the valve.

5. The combination with a. rei'irigerator car having a rotatable axle and an ice compartment, of a tank for receiving the brine discharged from the ice compartment, a valve for controlling the discharge of brine from the tank, a driven shaft, a driving connection between said rotatable axle and said driven shaft, a flywheel on said driven shaft, members carried by said flywheel movable by centrifugal force upon rotation of said ilywheel, and means connecting said members to said valve for actuating the latter upon movement of the former.

G. The combination with a refrigerator car having an ice compartment, of a tank for receiving the brine discharged from saidice compartment, a normally open valve for con trolling the discharge of brine from said -ioo tank,I and m'efs for closngsd Valve While vchecar is in motion, said means including a rotatablemembei Connected to a moving paltvof Sold ozu' whereby the same 1S drlven when' the om' 1s 1n motlon, Welghts cal'led 'by Said rotatable member adapted to be movedfby centrifugal force when the said member is rotated and a connection between said Weights and seid Valve for moving the latter from the formel'.

In testimony whereof I affix my'signature.

ROY E. WING. 

